Yongshi Nuzi
by MooseWoodson
Summary: Sha Li Wong, an earthbending girl from Omashu, makes a terrible mistake and must flee in order to maintain her freedom. She meets many new people on her journey, and she realizes that her fleeing has turned into a mission that may just free her. ALL OC.
1. Chapter 1

**Omashu**

"Hah!" The loud noise was released when Sha Li stamped her foot on the dusty ground. The grass had long since been worn away by similar stampings. A huge piece of the earth jutted out of the ground three feet from where she stood, angled diagonally toward one of the many wooden posts placed around her.

"Gotcha." She muttered and with a quick flick of each wrist, she sent two rocks the size of her head to finish off the 'enemy'. The wood splintered all over the ground and the rocks slammed to the dirt, making the earths tremors travel up her legs.

Sha Li took a few seconds to catch her breath and took a drink from the water in her hip flask. She glanced around to make sure noone was watching her and flattened the earth she used back to it's original resting place, covering the wooden splinters with some casually placed rocks.

"Hey! Li-li!" A yell came around the boulder she was behind. She spun around in surprise, glad that she had already covered up her mess. Just as she turned, a woman with tightly coiled braids and bright green eyes rounded the boulder. "What are you doing way out here so early in the morning?" Mi Shang asked.

" What does it look like I'm doing?" Sha Li asked calmly and used her left hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead.

"Looks like you're doing something you shouldn't be." Mi Shang said, her arms folded in front of her chest. Sha Li's breath hitched for a moment and her heart began to speed up but she overrode it and slowed it down to average speed like she'd trained to do. Mi suddenly grinned and burst out laughing.

"Right! Sha Li Wong, eldest daughter of the new kings advisor, doing something against the rules? Ha! I'd say don't make me laugh but I already did! And it was my joke." She snorted in a few more laughs and then finally calmed down and walked up closer to Sha Li. "So? We gonna do the usual?"

Sha Li started to relax at Mi Shang's words and nodded. "I want to work on kicks today. High kicks." And then she got into a sparring position.

"You got it!" Mi got into a similar stance as Sha Li. Mi Shang Zhan was the Captain of the Warriors who now patrolled the safe streets of Ba Sing Se but she was originally Sha Li's childhood friend. When Sha Li heard of Mi's fighting skills, she convinced her parents to let her be taught by the best. They'd already been training for almost two years and Sha Li was nearing the level of the Warrior. They began to circle one another, Sha Li's eyes never looked away from Mi. Her bare feet were planted firmly to the earth, Mi's slight footsteps and movements sending telltale vibrations across the land. Sha Li could've defeated Mi with her eyes closed and ears plugged but that would be too obvious and not very smart for someone hiding things.

"So, I was sneaking around your place yesterday and I heard your parents talking while you were in town." Mi said as she lunged toward Sha Li, her foot arcing through the air an inch in front of Sha Li's face. Sha Li knocked the foot away with a quickly raised arm and then swung her foot out and hit Mi on the thigh. She spun into the kick and flipped in the air, landing 5 feet from her original place.

"Yeah, and? Am I meant to chastise you for eavesdropping? Because I honestly don't care one bit what my parents say at any point, or who hears." Sha Li said unemotionally. Mi ran toward her and thrust a punch at Sha Li's face. Sha Li ducked and while in a squat, brought one of her legs straight up and hit Mi in the chin, flipping her up and away from her.

"Uuhf!" Mi grunted as she hit the dirt on her back, her breath knocked out of her. She took a second to regain her breathing and then chuckled. "You're particularly brutal this morning. Do you already know what I'm about to tell you and you're trying to shut me up?" Mi asked as she stood up, rubbing her chin.

"I'm sure that I have no idea what you're talking about and just as I said before, I don't care one bit. I'm just fighting with intent, like you taught me to." Sha Li spoke calmly and then ran the three feet between her and Mi, kicking toward the side of her head. Mi dodged and sent a pirouette kick at Sha Li's diaphragm. Sha Li spun away from it and flipped back onto the boulder near the edge of the cliff.

"I think you will care about this particular conversation." Mi smirked.

"And why do you say that?" Sha Li asked.

"Because it was all about you." Mi said proudly, as if Sha Li had originally sent her to gather the information.

"Me? What, were they arguing over which wealthy merchants son I should be married off to?" Sha Li asked with a scowl. She really wished that her parents would stay out of her life. She was old enough to not even stay home all the time but her parents said that it was inappropriate for her to go anywhere outside the city because she had everything she could possibly need in Omashu. She hated being stuck in the Wong estate everyday and her only escape didn't even earn the title because it was just a stroll around the city, and even then she wasn't free of her family because there were guards ordered to follow and 'protect' her when her parents knew very well that she could defend herself.

"I thought you weren't interested?" Mi asked with a mischievious grin.

"I'm not, because I'm sure it's just a trivial issue like the one I just mentioned." And then she lept off the boulder and launched a flying kick at Mi, aimed at her right shoulder.

"But you're wrong." Mi said and sidestepped the obvious kick.

"Really?" Sha Li asked skeptically when she landed in front of Mi.

"It's about how they are disappointed in your boyish ways of fighting and interests in battle and they have plans to send you off to the Ba Sing Se School of Aristocratic Ladies." Mi said this strongly, knowing it hurt Sha Li.

"What? You're lying. They're the ones who agreed to let me train. If they didn't want this then they should've just said no!" Sha Li said, her temper raising.

"Well, would you have listened if they told you no?" Mi asked, crossing her arms.

"Of course not." Sha Li said, scoffing at the dumb question. Mi knew how serious she was about fighting.

"And that is exactly why your parents are making this decision. They knew that you would do it anyway but they thought it would be easier to help and then you would get over this 'phase'. Only, they've finally realized that it's not a phase." Mi said matter-of-factly. "The plan is for them to tell you at dinner tonight and send you off in three days, me as your personal escort and chaperone."

Sha Li just froze. She was near catatonic. Her parents planned to just get rid of her? She was their eldest, the one who had held their family together for the past 10 years. It was rare that she ever got angry but her shock quickly turned into rage.

"No! You're a pathetic liar! My parents need me here and they love me. You're just jealous that I have a family around me and yours is small, insignificant and hundreds of miles away!" Sha Li shouted at Mi and clenched her shaking hands into fists.

Mi's expression went from a friendly kind of seriousness to one of anger.

"You know better then that Sha Li. You've known me for 18 years and you know I'm not like that." Mi said this with total faith in Sha Li.

"People change. And apparently, living with the wealthy changed you into just another conniving girl setting up tragedies. You sicken me!" And then she launched herself at Mi. She knew better then to attack a skilled fighter in anger but she hadn't completely harnessed her temper and she just snapped. The kicks and punches were easily avoided and each time Sha Li hit empty air, her anger boosted.

"Sha Li! Stop it! This doesn't even have anything to do with me! I was just trying to warn you." Mi yelled in between ducks and dives.

"Liar! You want to seperate me from my family. You know we have these problems but you just can't let it be. I always knew you were a gossip but this is going to far." Sha Li growled.

"You're being irrational! I have nothing to do with your parents heartless ways. If their love isn't strong enough to trust and love you the way you are then they mustn't really love you and they definately don't deserve this kind of reaction from you." Mi yelled back. She was beginning to get tired from Sha Li's adreneline powered attacks and she was glad when Sha Li just stopped. She was weary of the sudden change, but grateful for the break.

Sha Li just stared at Mi with wide, disbelieving eyes. The grey irises looking like the moon with the pupil so tiny, like a crater on the moons surface. Her hair was the only thing that moved, its long, black entirity was pulled up into a ponytail, drifting in the breeze. Mi was just beginning to think that Sha Li had realized how irrational she was being and that she had ran out of steam, when she saw Sha Li's right foot turn slightly and her fingers began to curl like claws.

'What is she doing? Is she planning on attacking me again? I never taught her anything like that...' Mi thought to herself. Then Sha Li's right foot lifted and at the same moment it slammed into the ground, her arms spun and formed a tight angle.

Mi barely had time to think an astonished 'No way!' before a huge piece of rock morphed from the ground and slammed into her chest. Her breath was immediately knocked out of her and she had no choice but to wait a few seconds on the ground, a good 10 feet away from where she had been standing, to get it back. But these seconds weren't in her favor because she saw,through watery eyes, 4 rocks the size of temple bricks floating in the air toward her. She scrambled up and tried to run.

'I can't believe she can bend! And so well! She must've been practicing long before I came to train her. But she's using it for all the wrong reasons. She shouldn't even be using it at all!' Mi thought all of these things as she raced through the trees toward the Wong home. As long as she got in sight range of the guards, Sha Li should stop for fear of discovery. 'Should' was the operative word but it didn't even matter.

Still 100 yards from the nearest guard post, Mi was tripped by what she percieved as a harmless pebble. She sprawled forward on her face but quickly rolled over to face Sha Li. She couldn't see her childhood friend but she came face-to-face with the four rocks. She never got a chance to escape again because the rocks came down hard and heavy, one each for her hands and feet. She screamed as her bones crushed beneath the unbelievable weight of the stones. Blood poured out from beneath the rocks and was quickly soaked up by the dry dirt, creating a red mud. Sha Li came into sight just as Mi passed out from the tremendous shock and pain of the loss of her appendages.

Sha Li stood over Mi's limp body, glaring down at the innocent woman that she had just devastated. Almost as soon as the anger appeared, it vanished, leaving Sha Li with a expression of pure horror. She barely had time to take a step away from Mi before she was vomiting in a bush, last nights dinner and this morning breakfast all being poured out on the very earth she had used to attack a friend. "Oh God..."Sha Li muttered, her eyes squeezed shut tight enough to start making her head hurt. She dry heaved a few more times and turned to look at what she'd done. Having nothing left in her stomach, her eyes took over the purging process and tears began flowing.

'I have to leave. My parents' reputations will be destroyed. My father will lose his job. I'll be thrown in jail...' Sha Li couldn't believe how quickly her life had changed. One minute she was just doing some harmless bending-illegal-but harmless and the next she had killed someone. No wonder the King had declared that no woman was to bend! Look at what came of it. "Oh, Mi Shang. I'm so sorry. How could I have thought those things about you, my best friend?" Her tears began to mingle with the red mud as she hunched over Mi's body, her torso convulsing with the vicious sobs being wrenched out of her. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She sat there for another 5 minutes, hating herself and wishing she had more to puke up.

"I have to go, Mi. I have to go, or they'll catch me. I can't go to jail. I can't, Mi. You know how I am with people, I just can't. You understand. Of course you do." Sha Li rambled on as she stood, hysteria taking over her mind. "I'll come visit you later, when they've stopped looking for me. It may be awhile, but I'll visit. I promise. Pinky swear." She even bent and made an attempt at making a 'pinky promise' but when she realized that there was no pinky, she just stood and walked off into the forest.

She walked and walked, far past the border of Omashu and on toward Ba Sing Se. She had no idea where she was going but she knew she had to get as far away from her parents and Mi Shang as she could. She was so wracked by grief and hysteria that she didn't pay attention to how her bare feet were being torn up by rocks, or how branches were smacking into her and tearing her skin and clothes.

Eventually, nearly an entire day later, she grew too exhausted to keep going and just fell over in the dirt. She had made good distance and was actually only a few days away from Ba Sing Se, which is how someone came by her before she starved or was eaten by a platypus bear.


	2. Chapter 2

**Going Around**

"Would you just SHUT UP already?" a voice yelled. It startled Sha Li out of her rest and she groaned in pain. While she was asleep she had apparently calmed down and the hysteria had vanished. She still felt horrible, physically and emotionally.

'Oh my...did they catch me?' Sha Li asked herself and opened her eyes to peek at whoever had been yelling. She was facing the sky even though she was pretty sure she had fallen over on her face. The sun was out, and it looked like morning light. She shifted her head alittle, trying to see who was around her without giving herself away.

About 5 feet away sat a girl with short brown hair. She was wearing a blue wrap with black pants and sleeves underneath. 'A girl from a water tribe? How far did I walk?' Sha Li thought in surprise but then she realized how dumb the thought was. 'There isn't any snow or ice around so SHE'S the one out of place.' Sha Li corrected herself.

"It looks like she was chased or something. She doesn't even have any shoes on." The girl spoke to someone who was out of Sha Li's sight range. It was weird that she could hear the girl but not whoever it was that she was talking to. She didn't have to worry about it much longer because she suddenly sneezed(those darn ferns) and the water tribe girl jumped nearly 2 feet into the air.

The girl turned and looked into Sha Li's confused gaze. "Oh, hey, look! You're finally awake." The girl had large, kind blue eyes and she smiled at Sha Li as she hurried over. Since her cover was blown, she carefully sat up and looked wearily at the water tribe girl.

"My name is Meloni. Meloni Tai Feng to be exact. I found you lying here about a day ago and Nishu and I have been watching over you." Meloni said, and sat down in front of Sha Li. Now that she was sitting up, Sha Li noticed a large mass of leaves to her right. It shifted suddenly and Sha Li gasped. There was an arctic fox bear not 5 feet from her!

"Wha-? How on earth is that thing here? And how can it survive the heat?" Sha Li exclaimed, totally taken off guard by the huge white creature.

"Nishu is very versatile. He can handle anything. But the damp leaves help to keep him cool." Meloni said this like it was normal for a wild arctic creature to be lounging next to her. Well, maybe it was. Sha Li had never been to a Water Tribe before so maybe they did coexist with wild animals. Even if it was normal to Meloni, Sha Li had never been near anything bigger than a cat hare and the bear scared her.

"I...uh, My name is Sha Li. Thanks for taking care of me but I really need to go." Sha Li said and got up off the ground. Her body didn't like that idea very much and as soon as she thought she was okay, her vision blurred and the forest spun in front of her.

"Oh." She groaned and fell back onto her butt again.

Meloni was quick and she put an arm behind Sha Li's back to keep her head from hitting the ground.

"Careful! You've been out cold since before I found you and you haven't eaten anything. I kept you hydrated but you really need to build your strength back up." Meloni said this with a look of worry on her face. "Here." Meloni reached down and dug in the small animal hide satchel around her waist. She turned back and held out a piece of dryed meat.

Sha Li looked at for a moment and then sighed, taking the meat from Meloni and biting into it. It tasted a bit strange but not disgusting and she soon realized that she was starving, considering she had thrown up her last few meals BEFORE walking for a day and sleeping for another. After 4 more peices of the meat, her hunger subsided and she had silently decided that since Meloni obviously didn't know anything about her, that she would stay with her for as long as it remained convenient. She wasn't dumb and she knew that she wasn't going to survive wandering around on her own without any money or food. She didn't even have any shoes.

"Thank you for the food and previous, er, hydrations." Sha Li said awkwardly. She had been taught good manners but she never had any need to tell anyone thank you before, or at least not that she thought necessary.

"No problem." Meloni responded cheerfully, not noticing Sha Li's discomfort.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, why are you here all the way from the, uh..southern water tribe?" Sha Li guessed.

Meloni frowned for the first time and for some reason, the expression made Sha Li notice how dark complexioned she was. 'That's strange, considering how little sun they get in the water tribes...' Sha Li thought.

"I'm from the Northern Water Tribe. And I've come to talk to the King of Ba Sing Se. Well, more like I've come to protest to the King of Ba Sing Se." Meloni said with a face of determination.

Sha Li was surprised. This girl, who was slightly younger then her, had come all the way from the Northern Water Tribe to protest? She just seemed like the quiet, kind type. The kind that shrugged off others protests.

"What are you protesting exactly?" Sha Li asked.

Meloni looked at her like she was out of the loop. "Surely you're just as outraged about this segregated bending law as everyone else? Unless..." Meloni stopped for a moment and looked Sha Li up and down. Her expression slowly changed from one of confusion to one of suspiscion.

"You're royal aren't you?" Meloni accused. She suddenly looked somewhere between outrage and scheming.

"No." Sha Li answered honestly. Her father was the advisor to the King of Omashu but before he got that job they were just moderately wealthy. Her father just had good connections. That's how he managed to get his position.

"Your clothes look suspiciously like royalty clothing, minus the tears. And your hands aren't calloused like most womens would be from working." Meloni continued almost as if she hadn't heard Sha Li's denial.

"I'm not royal. My family just happens to be wealthy. And these are my training clothes." Sha Li asid more forcefully.

"Training?" Meloni asked.

"Yeah, I was training with my -" Sha Li suddenly stopped talking and her eyes began to fill. She knew that the memories were there but she had somehow surpressed them until now. Flashs of the hurt on Mi's face and all the blood flew through Sha Li's mind and she let out a horrified sob.

"Oh God! I killed her! My best friend. How could I do that?" Sha Li burst out, not thinking of the implications of her words.

"Killed..? You killed someone?" Meloni asked, her eyes widening.

"It was an accident...no, not an accident..my temper. Something happened. I was just so angry. I know what she said was true, Mi never lied to me, but I still..." Sha Li broke off, her sobs too strong for words to even be understood.

Meloni continued to stare at Sha Li for a few moments. She didn't feel like the girl in front of her was dangerous. Sure, she'd just admitted to killing someone but look at how it tore her apart. There's no way that kind of reaction could come from someone who had intentionally murdered someone. She finally decided that it didn't matter that she had somehow killed someone, she was going to let her travel with them. The girl was obviously running from..well, whoever was chasing her, and she didn't have anything to sustain herself.

"Ok." Meloni said outloud. Sha Li's sobs had already quietened down and when Meloni spoke, she looked up at the girl in blue.

"Ok?" Sha Li asked in confusion.

"Yeah. Ok. You're coming with Nishu and I, to the King's place." Meloni said this looking Sha Li in the eye.

"Wha-? Just like that? You're just going to turn me in?" Sha Li burst out, her mood turning from sorrow to shock and increduality.

"Turn you in?" It was Meloni's turn to be confused. But then she understood. "Oh! No! I meant that I'm going to let you travel with us, so that you can get away from whoever it is you're running from."

Sha Li just starred at Meloni is disbelief. Her mouth opened, then closed. Then opened again. "Why on earth would you help me? I mean, I'm not too happy with the idea of being turned in either but aiding a criminal doesn't seem like it will help your protest any..." Sha Li said.

Meloni just shrugged. "I don't need any reason other then that I trust you." And with that she stood up and walked over to her pet bear.

'She trusts me? She just met me! And I just admitted to murder...' Sha Li's disbelief didn't fade but she let Meloni patch up the worst of her clothings tears.

Just as they were about to head out, Sha Li thought of something.

"Wait. Since you're coming to protest, does that mean you're a bender?" Sha Li asked.

Meloni turned and nodded, a huge smile on her face. "How do you think your feet and face healed so quickly?" She exclaimed and winked, then she turned back around and kept walking.

'This girl is so eccentric...but she's helping me so I can't complain. And it's nice to be out of Omashu and around someone who doesn't treat me like I have some disease. Well, it's not like everyone did...'Sha Li almost drifted back into the thoughts of her attack but she shook her head and made herself focus on something else. She was surrounded by a beautiful forest so she chose to observe it to keep her mind off the bad subject.

The leaves were just starting to fall off the trees and their dead golden bodies littered the forest floor like a rug. Nishu, Meloni's huge arctic fox bear, left plate sized prints in the damp foliage as he trudged along next to his master. The sun was out strong, shining through the large wholes in the treetops. Meloni was practically skipping, her short hair bouncing and swaying. It was almost like a dance. There were birds chirping in the trees and Sha Li estimated that it was almost midday by the suns position.

"We're probably not going to get very far by nightfall." Sha Li said.

Meloni didn't stop skip-dancing as she said, "I know, but a little bit ahead is better then not ahead at all. " And she started to skip-dance alittle more excitedly.

"So, are we going through the Si Wong Desert or through the Foggy Swamp? The desert would be faster, maybe 2 days or so, but..."Sha Li asked seriously. She really wasn't keen on going through any desert at anytime but she wouldn't have many other options if that was what Meloni had decided.

"Neither." Meloni stated calmly. Behind her, Sha Li's eyebrows ruffled in confusion.

"Neither? How? There isn't any other way to Ba Sing Se. Unless you have plans to sail halfway around the world, and in that case, you're going the wrong way." Sha Li wondered.

Meloni turned, walking backwards, and said with a huge grin, "We're going around."

And that was that. No more elaboration, so Sha Li just sighed and decided to follow along. It didn't really matter as long as she got away, and stayed away, from Omashu.

A/N: The end of chapter 2! So what do you guys think? Everybody like Meloni? If not, or even if so, comment and tell me why please! Thanks a bunch. :D


	3. Chapter 3

**Just Alittle Insight **

Sha Li soon learned that they were nearing the outside borders of the Foggy Swamp. She had been trying to figure it in her head from the map of the world in her memory. She was pretty sure that Meloni's plan was to go around the edges of the earth kingdom, staying near all the bodies of water, past Lochan and then into the capital. It was a pretty good idea, it would just take quite a bit longer then going through the desert. The plan at the moment was to stay in the narrow medium between Foggy Swamp and the desert and then start along the edges once away from the swamp.

"Do you think we'll meet any Firebenders on our journey?" Meloni suddenly asked.

Sha Li shook out of her thoughts and looked over at Meloni. She had taken to walking next to Meloni, making sure to keep the waterbender between Nishu and herself. She was still terrified of the creature even though he hadn't done anything to her.

"Um...I don't know. Probably not. There is still a lot of animosity between the Earthbenders and Firebenders. You know, from the war back when. I'm sure it isn't as strong now but people tend to avoid unnecessary risks. At least I usually do..." Sha Li trailed off. She was such a liar! She didn't really like to lie, but she felt that the least that Meloni knew about her the better, that way they couldn't get too close.

"I think it would be romantic." Meloni sighed out dreamily.

Sha Li looked at her in confusion. " Romantic to meet a Firebender? Why would it be?" She asked.

Meloni continued to look up at the sky, a sparkle in her eye. " A Waterbending girl, on a brave mission, befriends a Firebender so unlike herself and he continues on the journey with them. He is shy at first, worried that the Waterbender doesn't like him until one day, he drudges up the courage to just kiss her! And then an impossible romance is created. Two opposites, literally, put together by fate." Meloni sighed again at the rendition of her perfect romantic excursion.

Sha Li was still starring at her, her mouth slightly open and her eyebrows furrowed somewhere between shock and confusion.

"I-well..I suppose that would be nice..I guess." Sha Li muttered. She never thought about guys or anything romantic. She had always assumed that she would be forcefully married off to some rich guy, twice her age, and she would just have to endure it. She had always focused more on her fighting then anything else.

Meloni finally snapped out of her dream state and looked at Sha Li. "Don't you ever think about the guy you'll marry? What he'll be like?" Meloni asked.

"No, not really. I was going to be put into an arranged marriage by my parents, so I just ignored the idea. No guys ever showed interest anyway so it didn't matter. Now that I'm away from all that...well, I think I'm more worried about going to jail then a boyfriend." Sha Li said with a shrug.

It was Meloni's turn for the shock/confused look but she eventually just shrugged it off and began singing. It sounded nice. A flowing music of high pitches and long lines. It wasn't anything like Earth Nation music, which usually entailed drums and loud quick lines or words.

"That's really beautiful. You're a great singer." Sha Li said. After she had said it, she froze inside. 'That was the first real compliment I've ever given..I thought it would be more forceful..'

Meloni brightened even more, if possible, and smiled at Sha Li. "Thank you!" She exclaimed with a little bounce. " I wrote it myself. I was going to be a musician in my tribe, before I couldn't stand this law anymore. So, I have quite a few songs up here in my melon. Usually people get annoyed at my singing in my tribe so I don't do it often but I'm really glad you enjoy it." Meloni couldn't stop smiling.

As much as she wanted to remain distant, Sha Li couldn't help but smile at Meloni. Her good mood was intoxicating and contagious.

A/N: Right. So, I am aware that this was a pretty short chapter-it was kind of meant to be. I just wanted to throw this in. :D


	4. Chapter 4

**Worst Game Ever**

It was close to dark soon so they found a place to camp and Meloni built a fire. It wasn't really until the journey started that she felt it, but Sha Li felt really useless. She had been raised really well off so she didn't know how to do any of the things Meloni could do, like start fires or catch animals, or cook. She was just good at fighting. It was alot of good if she was in danger but beyond that, she was just a waste of skill.

Since she couldn't do anything else, she set diligently to getting fire wood. In a half hour, she had already gathered a two foot tall mound of wood. Deciding that that should be enough, she set down and started to make a pot of tea. Meloni was out catching dinner. Sha Li was at least grateful that her parents had made her practice tea making, even if it was just meant to impress suitors. It served her well out here, even if instead of Jasmine, she had Ginger root to make the tea with.

She was starring at the fire, waiting for the water to boil when she heard a big rustling behind her. She froze, listening. Whatever it was, it was strong, she could hear large branches breaking.

She slowly stood and even slower still began to turn, but being slow was a bad idea. Soon she had been tackled and she screamed out in terror. Screaming was an even worse idea because as soon as her mouth opened, a huge slimy tongue ran over it. She was being licked!

Thought began to some back to her and she opened her eyes, looking straight up at Nishu, Meloni's fox bear. She starred, dumbstruck and terrified, and Nishu starred back. But only for a moment. He quickly set out again to lick Sha Li to death and she attempted to fight him off. It was of course, no good, even for her fighting strength. She was contemplating using her bending until suddenly, she felt a tingle down her neck and shoulder. Then it turned into a shiver. And before she knew what was happening or why, she was laughing!

'What kind of strange attack is this?' Sha Li thought, bewildered. All of a sudden, Meloni's voice cut through the night, calling Nishu off.

Sha Li lay gasping on the ground, confused and disorientated. Suddenly, she sat up and pointed a finger at Nishu.

"What kind of magic does he have?" Sha Li asked, completely serious.

Meloni just starred at Sha Li in confusion. "I'm not sure what you're talking about..." Meloni muttered, glancing at Nishu who was now laying on the ground at her feet, dozing.

"He attacked me! Then he injected some kind of magic into my ear that was making me crazy! I was laughing! Who laughs when they're about to get torn apart?" Sha Li was in an outrage.

"I-uh..OH." And that was all Meloni said, because she understood what Sha Li didn't. She tried to hide it but she had never met anyone so oblivious. She started to laugh, covering her mouth tightly with her hand, but it didn't do alot of good.

"What on earth are you laughing at? Oh no! He already got to you didn't he? He's been controlling you this whole time and now he wants control over me!" Sha Li accused even more wholeheartedly.

"No! Wait! Sppff! Ahhahahaaahaa! I can't believe that you-hahaha!" Meloni couldn't even finish a sentence.

"See! You're hysterical! How long have you held this over her you demon bear!" By this point, Meloni and Sha Li had switched places in stance. Sha Li was standing now, wiping the rest of the 'magic drool' off her face and Meloni was on the ground, holding her ribs in uncontrollable laughter.

"Begone! Before I send you forcefully!" Sha Li was getting more serious the more Meloni laughed and she realized that if she didn't regain control, Sha Li might not ever believe the truth.

"Haha..ok, Sha Li, look..heh" She made a huge effort to control herself and stood up, using Nishu as a push up because she was still weak from the laughing.

Sha Li stood glaring at Nishu and took glances at Meloni as she stood.

"Look. It's not any kind of magic. I mean, it may be magic that he likes you even though you're so terrified of him but no, no drool magic involved. He was licking you because he LIKES you. You know, wants to be your friend." Meloni attempted to explain.

"That doesn't make any sense at all! You didn't lick me and we're friends. Now he's just trying to play it off, because I'm too smart for his dastardly deeds!" Sha Li exclaimed, glaring even harder at the asleep Nishu.

Meloni stifled another bout of laughter and walked up closer to Sha Li.

"No. That's how animals show effection, Sha Li. Haven't you ever had a pet before? Nevermind. My point is, he isn't trying to control you or anything and he isn't controlling me. He's just an animal." Meloni said reassuringly.

"That still doesn't explain the laughing I did because I was certainly NOT having fun nor do I like him anymore then before." Sha Li said solidly.

Meloni sighed. She couldn't believe this was even happening.

"Sha Li. Have you never been tickled before?" Meloni asked.

"Tickled? If that's that thing with the rope and the leather ball that reaches off into-" Meloni cut Sha Li off.

"No. It's not a sport. Obviously, if you don't know what the word even is, it probably hasn't happened before. Ok." Meloni only had one way of knowing and that was by demonstration.

"Don't freak out, ok?" Meloni said cautiously and reached forward. She slowly and very deliberately curled her fingers around Sha Li's ribs. Instantaneously, Sha Li yelped and jumped back.

"What-what was that!" Sha Li demanded.  
"Did it feel similar to what..Nishu did?" Meloni asked.

"Yes! But how! You're hands don't excrete any magical drool..." Sha Li trailed off. She was beyond confused and bewildered.

"Oh my goodness, Sha Li." Meloni said, a look of unbelief covering her face.

"What? Am I in danger?" Sha Li asked, suddenly afraid. She didn't like this new development.

"You have NEVER been tickled before." Meloni stated, sure of it.

"I already told you! I couldn't play that as a kid cause my mom thought it was for boys and-" Sha Li was abruptly cut off as she fell to the ground in a fit of laughter. Meloni was attacking her, just like Nishu did! Well, minus the drool. She couldn't catch her breath and just when she was sure she would die of suffocation, Meloni let up and sat down in front of her.

Sha Li was still catching her breath and couldn't muster the strength to sit up or even say anything, so Meloni spoke.

"THAT is being tickled. It's not a sport..well, I'm pretty sure it isn't. It's just something that effects pretty much everyone. It's some sort of sensitivity." Meloni explained.

Sha Li slowly sat up and starred at Meloni with an expression of deep thought.

"Hm." This was Meloni's only reply and she accepted it well enough and got up to to get the rabbit coon that she had caught. She finished preparing the tea that Sha Li didn't seem able to do at the time, setting a cup in front of her and then set about making a stew. Even after she had the meat boiling and Nishu was finishing the bones, Sha Li still hadn't moved or said a word. She still seemed to be in deep thought.

"Sha Li." Meloni called softly to her friend. She didn't want to cause any kind of emotional explosion or anything.

Sha Li looked up at Meloni and blinked and then she seemed to be back to normal.

"Yes?" She asked, looking expectantly at Meloni.

"Uh..the stew is done. You should eat. We have a long way to travel tomorrow." Meloni urged, holding out a clay bowl. The stew smelled delicious, and she was ravenous from all the exursion of laughing. She gratefully took it and at it quickly. Meloni poured her a new cup of tea, as her other had gone cold from neglect.

After they had finished the meal and the clean up, they rolled out there sleeping mats and layed down. Sha Li wanted to make herself a more comfortable bed but she still wasn't comfortable with Meloni knowing she could bend-especially not after this 'tickling' business.

"So...does, uh..this tickling thing happen to most people?" Sha Li asked, as she starred up at the tree leaves.

"Usually. Mostly when you're a kid. You're parents or siblings tickle you. It's a game." Meloni explained.

"Oh..well no wonder I've never experienced it before. My parents have never touched me, except to hug me and kiss my cheek or forehead. And my siblings are all very young." Sha Li said.

"Oh..that's terrible. Why not?" Meloni asked, worried that her new friend was falling into sadness.

"I don't know. That's just how they are I suppose. Maybe that's how they grew up." Sha Li said with a shrug, even though she knew Meloni couldn't see it.

"Well, that is very disappointing. Everyone should be tickled at least once." Meloni said, trying to cheer things up.

"It's not disappointing at all! I despise this intrusive tickling! What a torturous game! And to play with children no less. Despicable! I could barely breathe." Sha Li scoffed, rasing her torso up on an elbow in order to stare incredulously at Meloni.

Meloni just laughed at her reaction and shook her head. "You are definitely strange. But I like you." Meloni said with a smile that Sha Li knew was there without having to look.

Sha Li was shocked. How had she made such a nice and loyal friend so quickly? She couldn't figure it out but she was too happy with the development to think about it too much and she soon fell asleep, still making sure that Nishu was far from her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hide and Seek?**

They woke the next day before the sun had risen. They made sure to disperse any signs of their fire in order to deter anyone who may be following them, and Meloni went off toward a stream to wash up while Sha Li packed up their things.

Sha Li waited a few moments after Meloni had left, and stood up. She glanced in the direction the waterbender had gone, just to make sure, and then with one quick, precise flick of her wrists, she pulled all the dirt from her skin, clothes and hair. She grimaced at the pile of dirt on the ground and knocked it about with her foot. She felt better physically but she felt stuffed up on the inside. She was used to practicing her bending for at least a couple hours a day, but now she was too focused on keeping things under wraps. She just did a few stretches and a small workout to limber up, and sighed. She would just have to deal with the trapped feeling and hope that when the time came that she actually needed her bending, that she wasn't too bad from lack of practice.

A few minutes later, Meloni returned, looking very refreshed. She froze in her steps when she didn't see Sha Li.

"Sha Li?" She called out.

When she didn't get an answer, she began searching around the camp. She noted that the bag was neatly packed, but besides that, there weren't any signs of anyone being around.

"Sha Li!" Meloni called out again, this time with just a bit more concern edging her voice. She was really starting to get worried. She was afraid that maybe someone had come by and taken Sha Li, but she then thought that that wasn't too logical considering that the person didn't even take their supplies.

Meloni stopped and decided to listen, to see if she could hear screaming or steps. All her ears could detect were the early morning chirpings of birds and the usual scurryings of small animals waking up.

"SHA LI!" Meloni gave up on being still and quiet and began screaming and running about, looking behind bushes that were obviously much too small for Sha Li to hide behind, under rocks only snails could inhabit, and even going so far as to make Nishu open his mouth so she could look there, even though he had been with her the entire time.

Just when she was seconds from tears, a larger rustling noise was detected by her ears and she looked up-just in time to see Sha Li falling toward her. Sha Li flipped in the air suddenly and landed with her back to Meloni, just 2 feet away.

Sha Li turned, a great big smile on her face, to look at Meloni. She opened her mouth to yell, "Surprise!" but she closed it as soon as she saw Meloni's face.

Meloni's surpressed tears of concern had spilled over but it was apparent that they were now tears of fright and anger.

"I-uh.."Sha Li tried to say something, but she had no idea whatsoever how to handle crying. She didn't do alot of it herself and noone did it around her either so she was at a loss for what to do.

"You...you..IDIOT!" Meloni yelled at Sha Li, her fists clenched at her sides, shaking slightly.

"Wha-?" Sha Li's mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. Idiot? All she had done was scare her alittle! What did she do to deserve such a mean name?

"You had me all worried that you had been kidnapped or killed, and the whole time you were up a tree laughing at me!" Meloni exclaimed, her tears drying and she wiped away the tracks.

Sha Li was speechless. She had only meant to surprise Meloni, not make her angry.

"I..I'm sorry!" Sha Li froze after that, surprised at the apology, but then shrugged it off. "I didn't want to make you so angry, I just thought it would be fun...just a game, you know.." Sha Li trailed off quietly. She looked down at her dirty feet and then anger began to surge inside her. Without looking at Meloni, she suddenly turned and ran off toward the stream that Meloni had come back from.

She ran right into the water and sat down in the middle. She then stretched out and began rolling in the cool water. As expected, in seconds, she was soaked and her hair was flipped at an odd angle.

She heard Meloni's footsteps approaching, and sat up, sitting cross-legged in the center of the water again like she hadn't just spazzed out.

Sha Li's back was to Meloni, but she could still hear and feel Meloni sit down behind her, inches from the water.

They both sat quietly, until finally Sha Li sighed and turned in the water to face Meloni.

Meloni was sitting on her knees, fiddleing with one of the braids in her short hair.

"I'm sorry I scared you. As you can tell, I don't actually know how to have fun so I should have expected something to go wrong." Sha Li said straightforwardly.

Meloni looked up slowly, and starred at Sha Li for a minute. She took in the black haired girls soaked clothes and messy hair. She sighed suddenly, and said, "You're going to catch a cold. It's not exactly sun bathing weather." And with that, she used her bending to pull all the water out of Sha Li's clothes and hair. She pushed the water of the stream away from her and waited for Sha Li to step away from it.

Sha Li finally stood up, her face in a tight expression and walked up to where Meloni was.

As soon as Meloni let the water go, Sha Li spoke. "I'm an Earthbender." She just spurt it out, saying it so simply, as if she hadn't been trying to conceal it for the past week.

Meloni stood up, brushed her leggings off, and looked Sha Li right in the face.

"I know." She said simply, and smiled. She then just walked away, somehow knowing Sha Li would follow.

From that moment on, there were some unspoken claims made. First, Sha Li and Meloni were best friends. Second, they would each die to protect the other. And third, they didn't keep secrets from eachother.

That's why, when later that day, Meloni asked Sha Li why she had run off and rolled around in the water, Sha Li answered honestly, if not a bit embarrassed.

"I was angry at myself for being so stupid and I don't like to be angry. I initially ran that way because it was away from you, but once I got to the water, I had the idea in my head that the water would not only cool my skin but also my temper. And it did." Sha Li explained.

Meloni nodded in understanding. "There's something else too, isn't there?" Meloni asked, intuitively.

Sha Li blushed then. "Yeah...I..well, I started to cry and I didn't want you to see so I thought that if all of me was wet, you wouldn't notice." Sha Li confessed, looking as far away from Meloni as she could without turning around completely.

Meloni didn't say anything, but when Sha Li was convinced that her face had cooled down enough, and that Meloni wasn't looking at her, she turned back and saw Meloni grinning happily to herself.


	6. Chapter 6

**What Are Friends For?**

Sha Li was glad of the path they were taking on their trip. The desert would surely still be stifling during the day but it was sure to be in the negative numbers at night. They were already half way along the river that ran parallel to the Fire Nation, and it stayed at a constantly soothing temperature because the heat from the volcanoes was mostly blown away by the ocean breeze.

Many times already, Sha Li had looked up to see Meloni starring dreamily in the direction of the Fire Nation. Sha Li just shook her head. She still didn't really understand this weird fantasy of Meloni's but it also still didn't matter to her. She was just glad that she hadn't been caught up to yet by Omashu's soldiers.

Sha Li had also not completely grown to Nishu, but she sometimes slept against him because of his immense amount of fluff and the warmth of his huge body.

The group was just sitting down to eat a quick lunch when it occured to Sha Li that she didn't really know anything about Meloni's motives for coming to protest. She didn't seem like the kind of person to go on personal missions for other people, so it must have been something really close to home.

Sha Li was nervous about asking. She didn't want Meloni to think she was being rude by asking, but she also still felt that unspoken closeness that had overtaken them both since their last arguement.

Eventually, when they were both almost done with the fresh fruit they had picked from the surrounding trees, Sha Li built up enough resolve to ask.

"Meloni." Sha Li spoke out to get her friends attention.

Meloni looked back at Sha Li, she had been in another daydream, and raised an eyebrow in prompt.

"Um..well, I was just wondering..what happened for you to initially go on this mission?" Sha Li asked wonderingly.

Meloni looked at Sha Li for a minute, swallowed the last bite of her mango and bended some river water to wash her hands.

"Well, in my village, my father was a general in the King's army. One day, someone accidentally came upon me bending, and they went straight to the King to tell him. The King was furious. He summoned my father, who hadn't actually even heard that I had been caught, and discharged him instantly. The King told my father that there was no way my father could be a good leader of his army if he couldn't even command his own daughter." She said this with a face of slight anger- the kind of expression someone could tell was wearing off.

Sha Li listened intently. She could fully understand the implications of the King's decision. She knew that if she had been caught, her father would also probably loose his job as well. She didn't know what would come of what had already happened, but she almost didn't care. She was still very upset with her parents for what they had had planned for her. It was trivial now, but just thinking about how her life would be right now if she hadn't ran away, made her sick. She was eternally grateful to Meloni for taking her in, and she was also glad that she didn't have to hide her bending anymore.

"You know, he wasn't even angry with me. He accepted his discharge as if he had been the one to do something illegal and it was his rightful punishment. But it wasn't. I hated the King for dishonoring my father, but I also hated myself for dishonoring him. I knew that I had to do something to fix the situation, and I thought and thought for weeks. My father was very quiet those weeks, and he almost never spoke to me. At one point, I even went so far as to beg the King to give my father his position back. The King laughed at my behavior, told me that it was all my fault(like I didn't know that already!) and kicked me out of his palace. When my father heard about that, he DID become angry and he went out of his way to avoid me. Anytime we ran into eachother in the house, he would turn a very dark shade of red and just turn and walk away." Meloni said all this with different tones and expressions, but just as before, they all seemed deluded.

"One day, I overheard my mother talking about how we were running out of money and that my father should look into getting work in the village. I was so ashamed. I knew that it would kill my father to let all the people in the village see him doing anything lower than commanding other soldiers. That was when I came up with the idea to go and protest to the biggest leaders of the world and hope that they would disperse this ridiculously sexist law and my father would get his position back." Meloni finished her tale with a face that quickly morphed from the deluded sadness to a strong and pure determination.

Sha Li just sat and starred at Meloni. The Waterbender surprised her everyday it seemed. Sha Li also felt like a coward next to her friend. She admired Meloni's brave resolve and her courage to just leave everything she loved willingly to help her family. There was nothing noble about Sha Li's leaving and she was ashamed to think about the ever climbing comparisons between herself and Meloni.

'How can we even be friends?' Sha Li asked herself silently. She was starring at the ground now, her mood quickly falling. Her only friend before had been Mi Shang and she had been older than Sha Li. They weren't really that close , Sha Li realized, now that she had something real to compare it to. This really made Sha Li feel like her current friendship was even more doomed. She was always more emotional around Meloni and wasn't it emotion that had gotten her in trouble in the first place?

"Sha Li." Meloni called out to her friend and the Earthbender looked up, snapping out of her dark thoughts.

"I can tell that you're thinking scary stuff again, but you shouldn't. You are a great asset to this mission, and an even greater friend so don't feel any different. I'm sure my talk of family must have brought up some bad thoughts but you shouldn't dwell on those kinds of things." Meloni spoke kindly to Sha Li but she noticed that it hadn't broken all the way through her dark mood.

"You know, my father has this saying." Meloni started, waiting to make sure Sha Li was listening. "He says that when you've hit the bottom, the only place left is up. And I believe that 100%. So cheer up. Think of all the things you can do, instead of what you've already done." Meloni smiled as she finished and Sha Li slowly, but surely, smiled back.

"Ok. Thank you, Meloni." Sha Li said gently and sincerely.

"For everything? Of course!" She chuckled and then stood up. "Alright! Off we go." And she picked up her pack, attached it to the leather strap wrapped around Nishu, and gave him a pat.

Sha Li stood, but she didn't move. She just stood there looking happily at Meloni. 'She's a miracle. No one else could make me feel so much better with just a few words.' Sha Li thought and then she walked quickly to catch up to Meloni.


End file.
